Frank Me? Frank You!
I know all about Ronald Reagan’s “11th Commandment“. More often than not, however, I consider myself only a casual observer. But the apparent abuse of taxpayer funded privileges just days before the primary gives this blogger pause and questions what two particular State House Republicans incumbents are thinking and what their motives were.
In recent days John Ulmer (R-49) of Goshen and Greg Steuerwald (R-40) of Brownsburg, both in extremely tight races, have sent out 8×10 glossy “franked” mailers to their constituents touting their views on immigration and property taxes respectively.
The first offender, State Rep. John Ulmer, is normally considered a more moderate to liberal Republican (in 2006 he received a 100% score with Planned Parenthood) and is in a tight race against the more conservative Wes Culver. The second offender, State Rep. Greg Steuerwald, is an appointed incumbent and has been on the job for only a short time. He won last summer’s caucus in Hendricks County after former State Rep. Matt Whetstone stepped down. Only a short time in office, he’s in a difficult race to retain his seat against young upstart Zach Rice.
So what’s the deal?
(Read the more after the leap)
Really is it a so bad that incumbents are using their franking privileges to send out mailers just before the primary? One might not think so, but if the incumbent is locked in a battle for his elective life, does it not send a message of impropriety to use taxpayer money to mail something out just days before the primary?
The State Chamber of Commerce apparently thinks so and released this statement in regards to Ulmer’s actions:
Politicians using taxpayer money to share information with constituents through what is known as “official mail” is nothing new, but the timing of Ulmer’s newest official mail piece is alarming. The slick, 8 x 10 glossy mail piece was delivered to mailboxes across House District 49 earlier this week, just days before the Republican Primary. The mail piece was paid for by the Indiana House of Representatives and included an Indianapolis return address. John Ulmer claims to not take special interest money to fund his campaigns. Unfortunately, taxpayers, the most special interest of all, get to fund John Ulmer’s last minute appeal to voters.
It should be noted that the Chamber is backing Wes Culver, but the statements rings true and the same could be said about Greg Steuerwald and the timing of his particular mailing. It would appear to be, at the very least, a gross misjudgment on the part of the incumbents to approve these mailers.
One wonders why these particular mailers couldn’t have gone out after the recent session of the General Assembly had ended. But instead of directly attacking these incumbents, I’ll leave it to you, the reader, to judge whether these incumbents crossed a line.
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